Childhood Memories
by Paranoid Escapism
Summary: He never did go back and get that bear. [Gaara centric]


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, nor do I own the rights to Naruto or its characters.

**Summary:** He never did go back and get that bear. [Gaara centric

**Rating & Warnings:** K+. For mentions of child abuse. Don't do drugs.

**Author's Notes: **Eh, I got bored and wrote this at like 2 in the morning. I hope you enjoy.

**Pairings:** none

**Setting: **A park:D

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Gaara was only just a little boy, maybe five or six, when he had met Naruto. He still remembered the day clearly like it was yesterday. Gaara was sitting alone on the corner of a red sandbox at the park. It was the middle of November and bits of frost and snow had cluttered around the park. The sky was dark, and there was not a star in the sky for all Gaara could see because the harsh dark clouds had covered them up.

The small boy sat muttering to himself and holding his teddy bear, the one and only companion he knew. His breath became visible as it left his warm body to mix with the cold night air. Gaara was shivering and knew that he should go home, but he would rather die than go home, which would probably happen if he stayed outside for much longer.

Gaara couldn't go back home. Home meant pain and that pain was something he did not want to feel again. One of the small boy's hands left the warmth of his teddy bear and shakily raised to a large red abrasion that covered half his face. Gaara gasped slightly when he felt how cold his face was. He gingerly pressed his shaking palm against his cheek and jumped in pain.

Temari… Kankuro. Where they alright? Gaara looked down at his feet that were dangling beneath him.

"Of course they're alright. He never hits them as hard as he hits me." Gaara sniffed and held back tears that threatened to leak. Gaara's father had come home drunk again. And, unfortunately, Gaara had been the first thing he had seen. The red head's father couldn't stand seeing his youngest son even when he was sober, and usually tended to become violent. It's the nights when he would come how drunk that scared the little boy the most though. Gaara fingered the scar above his brow. The scar was from a piece of glass that his father had picked up after he threw his deer bottle at Temari. Gaara's father had blamed him for the broken glass and, pinning him to the kitchen counter, drew the glass across his son's brow. It said very distinctly 'AI' and although the scar was a year old, it still shone bright red as if it had been carved into his skull earlier that day.

Gaara sniffled and whipped his nose on the sleeve of his brown tunic. Maybe he should just die here. It would mean a lot less pain in the future. And no body would miss him anyway. Gaara closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, hoping that if he did, he would never wake up.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?"

Gaara opened his eyes. He knew he had dozed off, so why was he awake now? Shouldn't he be dead? Gaara looked at the boy who had awoken him. The boy was the same size as Gaara. He had big, bright blue eyes and obscenely blond hair. He also wore what looked like layers upon layers of warm clothes.

"Why are you out here alone? Where is your mommy? Aren't you cold? What is your bear's name? What's _your_ name?"

Gaara frowned at the boy who was still talking. "Shut up."

"Ah- um, ok."

"My name is Gaara. What's yours?"

"I'm Naruto. Gaara, are you cold? Would you like one of my jackets? Its ok, I don't mind, Iruka made me wear four."

"Who is Iruka?"

Naruto turned and pointed across the park to where a man was locking up his car. He turned back to Gaara and smiled. "Where is your mommy? Why did she not make you wear a jacket?"

"My mother is dead. She died giving birth to me." The smile slid off Naruto's face.

"Oh. I don't have a mommy too. I don't have a daddy either. Iruka takes care of me."

Gaara looked over again at the man. He was sitting on a park bench a ways away and watching Naruto interact with the red head. Gaara felt a pain of envy for the blond. What he wouldn't give to have somebody that cared about him instead of beating him every night.

"Gaara would you like to play with me? Your bear can play too if he wants."

"O-ok!" Gaara and Naruto didn't know how long they had played together, but Gaara knew that it was the most fun he had ever had in his entire life. Naruto was really enthusiastic and would talk nonstop. Gaara didn't mind, the red head loved listening to the blond talk, most people would try to keep their distance from the small monster. No one person had ever chosen to talk to Gaara at his or her leisure before. But Naruto was different. He was different in so many ways. Before long, Gaara had forgotten about his teddy bear, which he placed on the bench asking Iruka if he would watch it for him.

"Gaara, where did you get that?" Naruto let go of his swing with one hand and pointed at his cheek.

The red head placed a hand on his face. "My daddy gave it to me."

"Why?" Naruto's head was tilted slightly to the side.

"I don't know. My daddy doesn't like me very much."

"Are you bad?"

Gaara shook his head. "No, I'm not bad. He just doesn't like me is all. He says I took his wife away."

"Oh. Is that why you were out here all alone then? Because you daddy doesn't like you?"

Tears swelled up as Gaara shook his head again. "No. I ran away because I was scared."

"Scared of your daddy?" Naruto stopped swinging and walked over to Gaara. The little red head let his tears flow freely down his cheeks, his head cast downward in shame.

"Yes. I'm scared of my daddy. I'm scared he is going to hurt Kankuro and Temari, and I'm scared when he hurts me. I'm afraid to go to sleep because I'm afraid that me might come home mad. He scares me when he says that nobody will ever love me and that I'm a monster. And I'm scared when he screams that it's all my fault. My daddy scares me so so so much and I never want to go home as long as he is there." Naruto leaned forward and cried on Naruto's shoulder. The blond, not really knowing what to do or say, wrapped his arms around the other boy.

"I'm sorry." He whispered in Gaara's ear. "It's not your fault."

The two children stood like that for a while. Gaara stopped crying and although the wet streaks that his tears made stung his cheeks in the cold, he didn't wipe them away. Naruto was so different. The blond said things that made you feel all better. He didn't know it, but he had the power to make suicidal kids believe that there was hope.

Naruto let go of the red head and smiled calmly at him. "Would you like to come home with me? Iruka can talk to your daddy and then he won't hurt you anymore. Maybe you can even spend the night. Won't that be fun?"

Gaara nodded and wiped his nose. Naruto bounded off towards his guardian and started talking animatedly to him. Iruka nodded his consent and told Naruto to go get Gaara before heading off towards the car. The two little boys raced of to the car where they were met with a warm blast of heated air. AS Iruka drove off, the red head vaguely remembered that he had forgotten his teddy bear at the park. But instead of asking Iruka to turn around, he remained silent. Gaara wasn't lonely when he was around Naruto.

He never did go back to get it.

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Aza: Hey guys, thanks for reading. Leave me a review if you liked it!


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